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Franklin on strong run toward district title

Kristopher Rivera, El Paso Times
Published 7:54 p.m. MT Jan. 18, 2016

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Franklin seniors Cristina Carreon, left, Nailah Blount, center, and Celine Dominguez are leading their team to what they hope will be a district championship. (Photo: MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMES)Buy Photo

Prowling the western slope of the Franklin Mountains are the Cougars, hungry for the district crown and more.

The Franklin girls basketball team is the top contender for the District 1-6A title. A 6-0 district record, and 19-3 overall, is a promising outlook to the remainder of the season.

“We have a long way to go,” Franklin coach Marlee Webb said. “We recognize that we have to continue to build and click when the time is right.”

A season ago, Franklin finished third in district with a record of 9-3 and 18-12 overall. The top honors went to Coronado and El Dorado, which split the championship title after both teams finished 10-2. In the post season, the Cougars advanced to the second round of the Class 6A state basketball playoffs, losing to Midland High, 39-35.

Not bad for a rebuilding year.

In 2014, the Cougars won a district title, plus a bidistrict title before falling to Arlington Lamar, 44-43, in the second round of the state basketball playoffs. Franklin closed the season 13-1 in district and 21-5 overall under then first-year coach, Webb.

This season, Franklin looks strong enough to top that 2014 season. It all begins with the foundation set by the three seniors on the team; point guard Celine Dominguez, guard Cristina Carreon and guard Nailah Blount.

“We’re trying to focus on defense. We’ve had a really good defense in the past couple of games,” Dominguez, a three-year starter, said. “We’re staying ready, being prepared and knowing who’s out there. We have to be humble and trust each other.”

“When we first moved there, I didn’t’ want to play because I was in a different country, but my dad signed me up,” Blount said adding that her family is in the military. “The competition wasn’t really hard, the best players were in Japan.”

As of Thursday, Franklin's leading scorer is Dominguez with 262 points, followed by Winters with 183, Carreon with 173 and Blount with 160.

“It's all about teamwork, as long as we stay focused, stick together,” Blount said. “Without that, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”

These Cougars eat all day on the court. Franklin has already beat some of its foes from 1-6A; they defeated El Dorado, twice (43-12 and 57-41), Montwood (52-28), Americas (70-40), Coronado (40-29) and Eastwood (50-30).

“We feel confident in our team, in ourselves, but we can’t get too overconfident,” Carreon said. “We’ve beat our opposition, but they can always get better.”